ALL BLACK EVERYTHING

Except for those green shoes...and the beanie and socks. But other than that, today's look is all about post-gothic otter pup realness, with shades of Ashley Olsen channeling Rose McGowan circa Doom Generation. If that sentence means nothing to you, don't ask questions—just click through for more pictures!

Progress in the Bedroom

No, this isn't about my sex life—it's about decorating, silly! Because singledom is so much more fun when you have throw pillows to distract you from the desperately haunting specter of loneliness. The other weekend I shared this itty-bitty sliver of my bedroom on Instagram, so I wanted to blog about my inspirations because I'm a self-indulgent bastard I know you're curious. The main attraction is the shelf over my bed, obvi, which my co-worker and her hubby were nice enough to help me install after we finished working on my at-this-point-mythical drapery project. Also of note here: My beloved GP & J Baker Peony Blossom pillows, which I brought up from my parent's house, and my new Small Spells planter from Steven Alan home. It works just so perfectly for my money tree (previously seen in the boring white plastic container it came in).

I bought the shelf at The Container Store because it looked like a floating shelf—like there'd be no visible hardware. But there is—and what's worse, it's a super shiny silver that you can't really hide. So this guy sat on my floor well past the return-by date and I figured I'd end up trying to hawk it on Craigslist. Then it occurred to me to just dip the bottom portion of each bracket in the remaining paint I had from doing my walls, et voilà! Now the hardware really isn't noticeable at all.

Aside from following through with the floating shelf-spiration I shared on the blog last month, I was also under the influence of artist Mary Nelson Sinclair's apartment. I've loved her space since I first saw it (proof), despite the fact that it's a bit out of the norm for me. It's eclectic and full of art (plus: white walls); apparently you can't go wrong with a turquoise foo dog + abstract/blobby art in shades of pink. My foo dog came from an antiques store, but you can shop similar ones here. The painting, by Jack Ramsey, I bought at a thrift shop, but if you're looking for abstract art I really love Karina Bania's work (or you can just gaze longingly at my art + illustration Pinboard). And I'm not done yet—I've still got plans for a headboard and there's a light that needs to be hung. Stay tuned!

BLAZERS AS OUTERWEAR

It's about thirty degrees out as I write this and I'm snuggled up by the roaring sexual fire that is Hugh Jackman's chest hair (read: alone in my bed). What's on my mind, aside from naked Hugh Jackman (seriously though, is there any other man you'd rather have keeping you warm at the onset of winter?) is a boiled wool blazer that could function as a suiting separate and outerwear. Obviously, if it's thirty degrees out, you probably want a fairly heavy-duty coat—but for the sake of this post let's just pretend it's October in Paris and you aren't going to die a slow and agonizing death curled up on a curb in the fetal position if you're sans a full-length duffel coat.

The examples I've found include Enrique Campos in Paris, looking brills in gray, white and navy, and Angelo Flaccavento in what looks to be a heavier wool suit. This train of thought started when I came across Steven Alan's Joaquin Blazer (below), which fits me incredibly well and is totally gorgeous, but I'm about seven years away from being able to afford it. It's a 75/25 wool/polyester blend, which makes me hesitate because I'm always railing against polyester...but it's also made in the U.S. and is tailored so, so well—plus I just love those pockets! The look is vintage-y, but the cut is contemporary...I could wear it with black pants, jeans, quilted apron front man-skirts layered over pants—the possibilities are endless! I just need to hawk some isht on eBay first...

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THE PRIMARY ESSENTIALS

Last week I had the pleasure of stopping by the launch party for The Primary Essentials, a boutique right around the corner from me in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. You guys, it's so cute I literally can't even. I want to buy everything, but also the space is so gorgeous that I feel like we should have readings there and maybe a craft corner in the back. We can make textile art on hand looms and braid each other's hair. It'll be brilliant. Stylist Lauren Snyder opened TPE because she thought our neck of the woods could use a dose of the design aesthetic more commonly associated with Williamsburg (aka New Soho.) (But, seriously, have you been on Bedford Avenue on a Sunday? F**k that noise.) You can read an interview I did with Snyder here and below you can see some pictures from the party:

So does The Primary Essentials stock the primary essentials? That depends—how do you define necessity? TPE offers a meticulously curated selection of lifestyle products—from a Japanese skillet to a ceramic coffee dripper—and you could totally outfit the majority of your apartment with them. But the trendiness of a certain brand of "boutique" homesteading (thank you, Pinterest) has me wondering if we're seeing a renaissance of simple pleasures or just a fetishization of homewares. I like to think it's the former.

FRUIT FANCIES No. 9

Winter is here, y'all—and so, therefore, is coat season. This means that I, your #fblogger #fbuddy, am feeling compelled to tell you all about which coats are cute, which ones are lame, and which ones are kinda in between. Harken to my wisdom!

Coat Thom Browne // Bag WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie // Scarf Acne // Boots Saint Laurent // Jeans Balenciaga // Eau de Toilette Comme des Garçons

This look is super simple, which I love, and draws heavily on what I think of as classic English references—the houndstooth coat, the military boot, the less-classic-but-still-English "punk" skinny jean. It's pretty well monochromatic, which I get off on, and is super-luxe without being overtly so. Also, just for the record, that WANT clutch is actually pretty affordable (and totally gorgeous.) The EDT I literally only discovered this past weekend—I actually reworked my lil' collage here to fit it in. I am completely and totally consumed by desire for this frag. No joke. When I think about it, I want to touch myself, that's how good it is / LOLZ #TMI.

Another really good fragrance I recently discovered is Like This, Tilda Swinton's collaboration with Etat Libre d'Orange. It's Tilda, so obvs it's unisex, and it basically smells like the complete and total opposite of CDG Black—perfect for those days you don't want catching a whiff of your own wrist to incite overwhelming sexual desire. Anyway, while I love the Thom Browne coat, I think I may be leaning this season more toward really oversized lady coats.

Zara actually has a pretty nice, albeit overpriced, drape-y robe coat that's a little bit boner-inducing (and actually a wool/silk blend, natch.) I've told myself I'll get it the second it goes on sale...unless I find something better / actually cut for a small man and not a woman. Below you'll find Christophe Lemaire delivering his signature blend of casual cool, plus some other coats/jackets I'm into. Are you ready for coat weather? Or are you kind of over it already? Image sources on ma Pinterest, clockwise from top-left: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Paris Match

"Bistro bitch" is today's look, courtesy of beaucoup vintage hotness and some unsuspecting café tables. This jacket is always a big hit, so I was only too happy to discover that I'd acquired just the right wintry separates—chunky oatmeal knit, heavy wool pants—to craft the ultimate in color-coordinated Brooklyn-chic ensembles. I look like a cross between a park ranger and a French professor, but this jacket can go very Euro with the right pair of aviators (as evidenced here.)

The hat was my grandfather's (last seen here), the sweater is from the Brooklyn Flea and the glasses are these Warby Parkers. Oh, and I'm still on that Murakami grind, in case you were wondering about the book. Click through to see the full outfit! Photos Angelica Domingo.

Oh, snap—I was shot for a street style blog in this outfit! Muchísimas gracias for that, Breaking Fad. The pants are vintage Yves Saint Laurent; I picked them up at Odd Twin during their last weekend because they were having a balls-to-the-walls sale. They were too big by a few sizes, but I took them to Hong Kong Jack and had him pretty well completely re-work them...and now they're amazeballs, obvi. I really like them with Chucks just because they're already so fancy, you know?

Ok, I think that's all I've got for now. Did you see my bedroom makeover sneak peek on IG this weekend? Or were you "living" your "life" instead? I see how it is.

FÁTIMA DE BURNAY

It's time for my weekly blog update wherein I disclose what fun new ways I've found to put off finishing my damn bedroom. I have one of my co-workers coming over this weekend with her husband in tow to help me finally hang my drapery hardware. I Googled a DIY for this last weekend, the fourth weekend in a row I'd told myself "I can definitely do this!" and promptly freaked myself the fuck out. Dude, DIY-ing is hard. Nobody tells you that! Did you know that if I put this up wrong it could fall out of the wall? That it could end up being too heavy for the plaster or whatnot and tear everything down? Sweet Jesus! So, yeah, someone else's husband is going to come over and help make this happen and it's going to be amazing. Feminism!

On another wavelength, I was diddling around on Elle Decor España's website when I came across the amazingly textural/colorful abode of Fátima De Burnay. I actually blogged her living room last spring (third image down in this post), but had no idea where the image came from (damn it, internet!) In a fortuitous twist of fate, the whole apartment came back to me plus I found another peek inside her home on a totally different site, and now I'm obsessed.

That art! And the layers and the textiles and the colors! It's definitely got a feminine energy about it, but I think I'd feel perfectly at home here. I seem to wobble between slavish devotion to Scandi-chic minimalism and artsy hippie creative whatever (see: Erin Wasson). But I think this place is just so beautiful. It feels lived in—she travels, she eats, she entertains...I think that bathroom shot might be my favorite (the colors are great, but also those twin sinks have beaucoup industrial appeal.) I'll be sure to tweet and/or insta when/if my isht gets done this weekend, so stay tuned! Images via Elle Décor España and Germán Saiz for El País.

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[STREET STYLE] TROP ROUGE

I really love Christina's style—she's not one of us basic bishes in our Zara skorts (examples of her recent hotness here and here)—plus, that hair!

P.S. In case you missed it—my impression of her major lewks on Instagram.

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MY FALL/WINTER GROOMTINE

It's that special time of year where I tell you all about the products that are keeping me young and sexually desirable to gentlemen suitors. Of which, there are none—so maybe stop listening now?

We'll start with the obvious pièce de résistance, my face. I've switched to Ursa Major's face wash and face balm almost solely because they smell so, so good. I actually asked my co-worker one day if she thought my face smelled good, because I was so sure it did—and she said yes! It was a totally normal and healthy interaction. In addition to smelling of sage and cedar or some other rustic gay shit, they're both totally paraben and pthalate-free! Score for moneyed liberals!

On top of that I'm still really into COOLA's tinted sunscreen, though I bought some random BB cream from Duane Reade that pretty much has the same effect. (And both of them are invisible, natch.) I was using Earth Tu Face body wash, but once it ran out I switched back to Dr. Bronner's, TBH. The price difference is crazy and I couldn't justify it with results, hashtag sadface.

DO YOU POP YOUR COLLAR?

Underneath your sweaters? I think it lends ruffian elegance—a touch of "louche sophistication". Like your boyfriend unceremoniously kicked you out of bed for snoring so you bid him adieu, indignantly grabbed your copy of Brideshead and set yourself up fireplace-adjacent in the nearest café. (Holy shit this café has a fireplace?) Another big sweater etiquette question: Do you ever tuck them in? Or is that just completely ridiculous? Ben Allen for T Magazine, shot by David Armstrong and styled by Jason Rider. (Rider also styled this shoot I loved.)

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THE ART OF BEING IDLE

"A mind adrift in a sea of its own making is far more interesting than a mind following a trail of hyperlinks."

Over the weekend I read this beautifully written essay on Kinfolk. It grapples with the idea of really, truly disconnecting—not necessarily in a tech sense...more like allowing yourself to do absolutely nothing. It's a really interesting thing to think about. Even when I'm doing something so basic as reading a book I can be hyper aware of the act in and of itself; what it looks like and the image I'm projecting by doing it. Like, instead of reading this book should I Instagram it next to a bowl of artisanal granola? Do I have any artisanal granola? Can I make my own, really quickly? Maybe I should buy a book on how to make artisanal granola at home and read that. In all seriousness I find it often really difficult to get lost in a good book. Every time I reach a new chapter it's like, ok, finished that portion—what's next? Am I continuing on? How many pages is that? Just being and forgetting is a kind of challenge. Just going to bed and not going to bed after I check all the apps on my phone ("Only two new likes!? You're all sluts") requires a good bit of will power.

And I'll own up to being a bit compulsive about these things. I routinely check on my stats here and there, all over the place. Who favorited my tweet? Has anyone pinned anything from my blog? Do I have any new Facebook fans? I can't even remember what life was like before I had all these running tallies going in my mind, which I guess is this weird side effect of digitization. Everything is quantified, everything is stats. Worth—even self-worth—can feel like little more than a numbers game.

MICHAEL ALLEN AT HOME

I'm loving the sleepy Wabi-sabi elegance of fellow #BrooklynHipsterGay Michael Allen's Williamsburg loft. I found it on FvF, of course, while looking for some inspiration for my bedroom. That lil' project is coming along nicely, for the record, but the big fat makeover I mentioned on practically day one of moving in still has no definite end in sight. That being said, I think I can 100% promise a reveal by the end of the year, how does that sound? And until then, Instagram updates and a weekly think piece about stacks of magazines and decorative planters.

I was going to say Allen's place reminds me a bit of Brian Ferry's, and then I scrolled to the bottom of the article and realized that that's at least partly because Ferry shot this. Small world. Basically, Brian Ferry is sick talented and I die. (Can we just pause for a second and just talk about how stunning that picture of the little tree in the planter next to the clock is? It like...moves me.) Also really love those hooks for displaying jeans...